Hume City Council has called for an end to ongoing industrial action that has caused disruption to Council services, particularly waste collection, throughout 2026.
Hume Mayor Councillor Carly Moore said residents had experienced repeated service interruptions and uncollected bins and had been patient for long enough.
“Hume residents work hard, pay their rates and rightly expect reliable service delivery in return,” Cr Moore said.
“Throughout 2026, ongoing industrial action has caused significant disruption to Council services, particularly waste collection. We know residents are frustrated by uncollected bins and repeated service interruptions, and Council shares that frustration.
“Our community has been patient for long enough.”
Hume employees voted to participate in multi-employer bargaining with the Australian Services Union (ASU) in September 2025. Since March 2026, Hume has been negotiating alongside seven other councils and four unions to reach a new enterprise agreement.
Council said it had negotiated in good faith throughout the process and provided employees with a 2.5 per cent pay increase in November 2025 while bargaining discussions continued.
Cr Moore said Council respected employees’ legal right to take protected industrial action and supported fair wages and conditions, but also had a responsibility to protect essential services and manage ratepayer funds responsibly.
“Despite months of negotiations and Council’s continued good-faith efforts to reach an agreement, industrial action continues to disrupt essential services and unfairly impact Hume residents,” she said. “Every missed bin collection and every service disruption is felt directly by Hume residents.”
According to Council, Hume residents are carrying a disproportionate share of the impact because Hume is one of only three of the eight councils involved in the negotiations that continues to directly employ its red-bin collection workforce.
As a result, industrial action affecting waste collection services has had a particularly significant impact on Hume households, despite the dispute involving multiple councils.
“It is unacceptable that Hume residents continue to carry a disproportionate share of the burden from a dispute that extends well beyond our municipality,” Moore said. “Residents should not be experiencing prolonged service disruptions while bargaining continues.”
Hume’s Councillors also support retaining the Victorian Government’s rate cap to help protect residents from further cost pressures and ensure Council services remain financially sustainable.
Moore said reaching an outcome would require all parties to continue negotiating constructively and make full use of the available bargaining processes.
“Fairness must extend to everyone involved in this process, including the residents who fund and rely on Council services,” she said.“Hume residents rightly expect the services they pay for to be delivered reliably. Residents should not be caught in the middle of ongoing industrial action. Essential community services must not be used as bargaining tools.”
The bargaining process involves eight councils and four unions, with the potential for additional councils to join.
“Any agreement must be fair for employees, affordable for ratepayers and financially sustainable for the long term,” Moore said. “The time has come to put residents first. We call on the ASU and all parties involved to bring this disruption to an end and focus on reaching an agreement through the bargaining process.
“Our employees deserve certainty. Our residents deserve reliable services. Council remains committed to achieving both and securing an outcome that is fair, affordable and sustainable for the long term.”